Gundy essentially is an Oklahoma State lifer, having played for the Cowboys, worked as an assistant there then replaced Les Miles as head coach. Tennessee is replacing Derek Dooley, who was fired after a mostly miserable tenure in which he went 1-14 in the SEC the past two seasons.

Gundy also was a candidate at Arkansas, but that job went to Wisconsin's Bret Bielema. Louisville coach Charlie Strong also was in strong consideration for the Vols.

Jon Gruden's name surfaced as a candidate, although Gruden's agent says the former NFL coach never had interest in the position.

Gundy would move his camp from the Big 12 where his offense has turned the conference on its head, to the SEC, where his offensive style would be in strong contrast to the majority of the league.

Oklahoma State climbed to a school-record 12 wins last season and was in the race for a spot in the national championship game right up until the final week of the season. The Cowboys finished the year ranked third in the country.

This year, the Cowboys opened the year with a true freshman quarterback and because of injuries, ended up playing three different QBs. Still, they finished 7-5.